This is what is pounding, bubbling, sloshing and rumbling in my soul this morning:
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
(Luke 2:19)
The woman’s capacity for keeping things deep in her being is miraculous.
What wonders are conceived in the hidden parts of her spirit.
What changes are wrought upon that unidentifiable entity inside her.
What superb delights are brought forth from her at the appointed time to illuminate humanity.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
i think my propensity to keep things hidden in my heart is all too disastrous at times…
hmm. both your post and alece’s comment have me thinking.
I ponder too much I think, but not to the magnitude that Mary did. I am sure.
My mind went toward what Alece wrote. But what I thought about was how a gift given to women by God (ability to ponder and store up in our hearts) can be twisted by our sin into a way to hold grudges or withhold love.
So it’s cool but also cautionary.
Ooohhhh, I LOVE the new look!
And my friend says he will never fully understand what is going on in my heart. He says, I’m deep and mysterious. Lol!
Hi @ngie, I love the new look of your blog!
I love this verse too. For me, it speaks so much about Mary’s temperament. With everything that was going on around her, all of the excitement surrounding Jesus’ birth, Mary seems so gentle and calm and thoughtful in this verse.
Hm… I really like the ideas that are being brought out here, gals.
Considering the character of Mary we later see her making a visit to her older cousin, Elizabeth. While some of us identify with the positive as well as the destructive effects of keeping things inside I think we can also identify with this selective friendship. She chose a specific person to open up to.
It’s like a bottle of pop that gets shaken up a bit and there is pressure. If we open up all at once in front of everyone it is a mess. But if we just let the top open a tad bit (talking with one or two people close to us) the fizz comes to the surface and the pressure is released. Then once we are all calm again and settled in confidence in Christ then we can open up and be a delicious refreshing element to those who drink of our perceived assured nature.
I understand that not everyone operates like this. That is ok. But, for us who have the tendency to bottle things up I think it is very important that we foster relationships of trust and intimacy like Mary did so that we may find strength to face the world.
what a great analogy Angie. You do have a gift for words.
I think that i have a tendency to unload on my friends before i have taken the time to process internally and sometimes before i go to God in submissive prayer. A habbit that i am working on.
My sister! Cool! I am glad you left a comment.
It is good that you are working on taking it to God first, but I must say that I do think people are wired differently. It might be that God has designed you to be the type of person that clearly understands the value of community and therefore operates by involving people in everything they do. I really don’t think that this is all bad. I think that we need to play to our strengths.
Kiss those babies for me!
)
way to break it down like that, @ngie… so good.
Yeah, I like that analogy! A lot of women find the need to ‘talk things out’ with a friend. What kind of friend you choose perhaps says something about you … but in general talking does this in women (I know it does for me!) – pop the lid, release the fizz. Yeah. Good analogy.
Have you ever opened a bottle of apple juice that had turned to vinegar from being bottled up too long?
We need fellowship and understanding, bearing one another’s burdens…I think that’s biblical.
Love you, Angie! Thanks for the analogy — makes perfect sense to me.
Pondering….
Still pondering….
This reminds me about my slide talk last night and how I make my paintings. Often they are about ideas that cycle around in my head for a long time. But then I found that after making paintings about those ideas I don’t think about them anymore. I don’t know if this is good or bad. I do appreciate the paintings that developed from the ideas and maybe they just needed an outlet after stewing for some time. Now I need to find new ideas to fill the void those left.
As far as talking to close friends. I do that about a lot of things and it is fun and cleansing at times. I don’t tend to hold things as grudges, I try to just let them go after evaluating whether they are worth being upset about or not. I ask myself if holding this against someone or even if talking to them about it would really do more good than bad, because relationships can be hurt by such things. So I ponder things until I know if I can let them go, or if I need to do something about them. Letting go can be hard though.
Wow, both of my sisters commented on this post! Hi Em’! I like what you were explaining about getting your thoughts out in your paintings. That makes sense to me.
Michelle, I can’t say that I have ever had that experience with the apple juice… I can only imagine.
I so love Mary in this passage in Luke…but for me the juiciest tidbits are earlier in Luke 1:28-55…read the best from The Message:
Beginning with Gabriel’s warm welcome:
28 Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
[Isn't that how we're REALLY suppose to see ourselves??? Yet don't! I don't know about you, but this needs to live permanently on my bathroom mirror!!]
And then her response to her calling:
35 And Mary said,
Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
She instantly said YES!!! Here I am, ready to serve!!! No, I gotta pray about it and I’ll get back to you OR I gotta feel “the peace”. Just, an “alrighty, if that’s what the Lord wants me to do, so be it!!” and jumping in with both feet with FULL ON FAITH! Wowzers!!! She was just one cool chick if you ask me!
Elizabeth then greeted her as BLESSED among women and her response:
46-55 I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
This lady just got a word that most would see as scandalous…that she even could of been killed for, yet she’s dancing with God’s song and bursting with God-news!!?! I gotta read this passage more often, especially when life takes a crazy turn and all seems dark and miserable! Just reading Mary’s words, especially within The Message just stirs my heart and makes me ponder…….
Ponder those deep things, dreams, things which seem impossible…but with faith and God, NOTHING is impossible!
Stir yourselves up girls and take time to ponder those things that God puts inside ya!
Libby, thanks for adding to the discussion these insights. This line especially caught my eye: He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. Amen for chosen children and piles of mercies.